Warriors fall to short-handed Spurs again

OAKLAND -- Once again, San Antonio entered Oracle Arena determined to rest star players against the Warriors. The result ended up being all too familiar for Golden State.

Minus Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the faster, smaller and younger version of the Spurs beat the Warriors 99-90 on Saturday as the owners of the NBA's best record extended their winning streak to 13 games.

"It was a learning experience," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "The thing is, they didn't just do this against us. They've done this all year long. Give them credit."

The Warriors saw their three-game winning streak snapped and missed a chance to gain ground on current No. 5 seed Portland, remaining 1½ games behind the Trail Blazers in the standings with 11 games left.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 20 points but had just five in the second half.

The Spurs have won all three games against the Warriors this season, with one left to play at San Antonio.

Without its second- and third-leading scorers, San Antonio got 20 points from point guard Tony Parker, who was a spectator the last time the teams met in another win for the short-handed Spurs.

Center Tiago Splitter had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Danny Green scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half.

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Green hit three critical fourth-quarter 3-pointers. One of them pushed the Spurs' lead to 13 points. After the Warriors attempted a comeback and cut the lead to seven, Green hit another with 2:18 left to give San Antonio a 94-82 lead and all but seal the win.

The Warriors had opportunities, but many of their 18 turnovers that were converted in 27 Spurs points were unforced.

"They execute, and they make you pay the price. Some of the turnovers definitely cost us tonight," Jackson said. "Some because of their great defense, and some because of our bad offense."

The Warriors shot 40.3 percent to the Spurs' 39.3 percent. But while San Antonio struck with daggers, Golden State was only 3 for 15 from 3-point range.

"They couldn't shoot easy 3-pointers and didn't make many as a result," Splitter said. "That is great stuff for a team to limit a great shooting team like the Warriors."

Even without Duncan in the lineup, the Spurs blitzed the Warriors at the start and went on an 11-0 run that pushed their first-quarter lead to 22-7.

San Antonio committed seven turnovers in the second quarter as Golden State saw its defense stiffen and key finishing the half on a 17-6 run to head into the locker room trailing 50-47.

The Warriors carried their momentum into the third, taking their first lead of the game on a Bogut layup. But too many mistakes down the stretch cost them.

"We dug ourselves a hole early on that hurt us," Jackson said. "I did think we had another run in us. Unfortunately, we didn't. We didn't finish off."

David Lee left the game in the fourth with a hamstring strain, but Jackson said he believed the forward could have returned if necessary.

Harrison Barnes continued his offensive struggles in his third game in the lineup in place of an injured Andre Iguodala with four points on 1-for-6 shooting. Since entering the lineup, he has shot 2 for 19 from the field and missed each of his 11 3-point attempts.

Jermaine O'Neal returned to action after a two-game rest because of a hip issue and had nine points and seven rebounds of the bench.